Ideal in homebrewing for maintaining desired fermentation temperature, and perfect for temperature control in reptile terrariums and small pet enclosures.

LED heating indicator light and Digital temperature control

Controllable range of 68°F - 108°F, Choice of Celsius or Fahrenheit readout (press Up or Down button to change)

1 Year Warranty

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Jump Start Heat Mat Thermostat

Providing bottom heat is one of the most effective ways to improve germination and rooting. Our Heat Mat Thermostat ensures that your plants’ roots enjoy consistently ideal temperatures by precisely controlling and maintaining the heat output of the mat in accordance with the temperature you select.

Set and Maintain Ideal Rooting Temperatures for Fast Seedling or Cutting Growth

Jump Start Commercial Heat Mats

For larger projects, use the Heat Mat Thermostat to control our mega-sized, heavy-duty modular Commercial Heat Mats. These mats will provide uniform heat for hundreds of seedlings or cuttings. Rugged, waterproof, and durable, with waterproof connectors. Daisy-chain up to four mats together.

Terrarium Warming

Hydrofarm heat mats are also great for heating terrariums and pet enclosures for reptile, rodent, and arachnid keeping. When used with the Jump Start Heat Mat Thermostat, heat mats can be controlled to provide the precise level of warmth your pets require to flourish.

Jump Start Germination Station

Our Germination Station pairs perfectly with the Heat Mat Thermostat. It’s a mini propagation system that comes with everything you need all in one box—watertight base tray, seedling insert, humidity dome, UL-listed heat mat, and rooting additive. Just add seeds and you're good to grow.

Product description

Package Quantity:1

"Hydrofarm's Jump Start Heat Mat Thermostat controls the temperature of heat mats by providing constant optimum temperature for plants, seedlings and cuttings. It is ideal for maintaing root zone/rooting temperatures in a tray and dome. Easy plug-in operation with LED indicator light, digital temperature selection, and three-prong ground plug. Controllable range from 68 to 108 degrees Fahrenheit. Includes temperature probe with 6' cord. Choice of Fahrenheit or Celsius digital readout. Heat mats are not just for gardening anymore! They are very useful for providing consistent, controllable heating for other hobbies including reptile and arachnid keeping (heating for enclosures and terrariums), homebrewing (maintaining of fermentation temperatures), and more. With this thermostat, you can easily expand any heat mat's functionality so that it provides the precise level of warmth your pets and projects require to flourish. The ability to dial in and maintain your preferred temperature means you can rest assured and no longer need to constantly monitor temperature, whether in colder or warmer environments. The Heat Mat Thermostat is the only ETL-certified heat mat thermostat on the market. ETL (Intertek) is a respected inspection laboratory which specializes in product safety testing. ETL certification is proof that a product complies with widely-accepted safety standards. The Jump Start Heat Mat Thermostat is compatible with all heat mats, and is an optional accessory for Hydrofarm Seedling Heat Mats. "

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Quite a lot bigger than I expected but seems to work well, maybe 4 inches by 3 inches minus cords sticking out in several directions, but maintains temp within about 4-5 degrees in my application which I'll describe.

I have a glass snake terrarium with an under tank heater stuck on the bottom, on the outside of the glass between the glass and shelf. Under aspen bedding the glass was getting far too hot, like 140 degrees Fahrenheit so I had to do something to regulate it. I put this device's probe inside the tank, on top of the glass bottom but nestled in the aspen bedding, and set it to 105 degrees. It did the trick. Because UTHs take a long time to heat up and cool down the process is pretty slow in both directions, but the probe temp is hovering right around 105 and it has solved my worry that my snake will wiggle down to bare glass and burn herself. With the probe at 105, the tank stays at about 86-89 (I also have a bulb running at day and a ceramic heater at night so keep that in mind, those both help a lot and I don't think a UTH at 105 would be enough for a 40g breeder)

Be warned, the thermostat tops out at 108, even initiating an emergency shutdown at that temp. It's probably perfect for seed beds but I would have liked my UTH to be more like 112, which would still prevent any serious burn injury (if any) while allowing more heat to get through the aspen.

This is a great thermostat for the price. Not the top of the line but does the job. I used for a leopard gecko cage and all though there is some fluctuation with temp degree , it still keeps hot hide within safe ranges. The under tank heaters get to hot so please get a thermostat. Important to note: gage must be above substrate directly under hide. I cut a hole in carpet and slide it up through and it works great now. If you have under carpet will not work properly. Please get a laser thermometer to keep check on hide temps . The temp is reads in hide is what gecko is getting, not what the thermostat says. You may have to set thermo a little higher to get the range you want which should be right around 90. Only negative was customer service was not helpful at all when I first got product. I had to figure out on my own.

This is a Hydrofarm product, being used on three Planter's Pride covered heat trays. (Which they label as 72 cell "Heated greenhouse kits".) Each self contained 72 growing cell tray/kit uses 17 watts. The Hydrofarm Heat mat Thermostat is rated to handle 1000 watts, so well under it's rated capacity at 3 mats/51 watts. I bought 8 of these heat mat trays and was prepared to plug all of them into a power strip attached to the underside of my shelf, then plug the power strip cord into the thermostat. I use these greenhouse trays on a 2'x4' shelf unit with grow lights attached to the bottom of each shelf. I'm also growing wheatgrass on these shelves, so I try to check water every morning and night, but always at night if I miss a morning. I run all my lights on timers to mimic the natural sun cycles. It's not necessary I suppose, but maybe plants like a break too? Except for watering, my set up is automatic and maintenance free. All due to a 5 dollar light timer and this thermostat. Here's my details. Regular Basement temp - 60-62 degrees. This year I am in the process of sprouting 15 different varieties of tomatoes. So 72 cells of tomatoes, 72 cells of peppers, 36 cells of cauliflour, 36 cells of brocolli. I had read accounts of the mats not shutting off and running too hot for too long without a timer or thermostat. Sure enough, right on the heated greenhouse kit box, Tomatoes are listed as a "cooler start seed" 70-80 degrees. The "Hot seed starts" that according to their directions require the mats to be turned on and left on full time are squash, radishes, pumpkins, corn, watermelons, etc. And I don't know anybody who starts these varieties, such as corn indoors? "Hot seed start" temps were 90 degrees, a little too warm for tomatoes and such. Read your box and heat mat perameters! Their solution as stated on the box is to unplug the tray for 4 to 6 hours at night, or use a timer to try and maintain a 70-80 degree range. Which sounds like an easy way to fail at germinating tomatoes, since these mats have the capability of reaching 90+ degrees.. Well this is what the Hydrofarm soil thermostat is for, because I don't want to get up in the middle of the night and fiddle with flashlights, manual soil thermometers, plugging and unplugging units! If the ambient temperature in the basement changes, the Hydrofarm thermostat adjusts. I set the temperature at 82 degrees, stick the corded silver lead down into a growing cell in one of the trays and leave it there. The deeper you press the temperature lead down into the cell the closer you make it to the heat source of the mat. My advice would be to set it as close to the soil surface as possible without it flipping out of the dirt. (This lead then continually takes the default reading for all three trays) Water as usual, and put the tray lid back on. It took about 4 hours to get the soil up to temperature on the digital readout. I keep a cheap tiny window thermometer under the lid of one of the other trays as another safety control reading. In case the thermostat were to ever freeze and the mats stayed on, I'd be able to catch it. I ended up setting my thermostat to 82 to raise the above the soil temp in the covered tray a couple degrees which was still showing in the high 60's. So when the soil temp reaches 82, it shuts off. Soil temp seems to drop around three degrees or so before it turns back on. I assume there's an electricity savings there, but I don't know how long the trays remain off. You can't hear them turn on and off. But it's doing a super job of regulating the germination temperature. Over half of my tomato seeds sprouted in under 10 days and all at once! In less than 24 hours things went from bare dirt in the tray to sprouts pressing against the underside of the tray lid. Amazing. I've struggled with tomatoes every year prior. All the seeds that didn't sprout has more to do with seed viability than the equipment as far as I'm concerned. The thermostat does what it's supposed to do, and allows you to go on with your life and do other things besides monitor the trays all day and night. This makes starting your own seeds fun, easy, and worthwhile to do if your gardening means more to you than a hobby. This year, the cost of buying tomato/pepper transplants was instead spent on this equipment, next year it should amount to substantial savings!

I now have 5 of these controlling the heat in my different reptile setups. They do fluctuate a lot, it drops about 4-5 degrees under the set temperature before it turns the heat source on, for my particular needs this is fine though but may be important to note. My first two are nearly a year old (running non-stop) and are still working flawlessly.

Unfortunately, the thermostat did not work for my Zoo Med UTH heater. The Jump Start works great as a thermometer with its nice, easy-to-read backlit reading. But after plugging in the UTH, the Jump Start failed to provide power to it. I plugged the UTH into a wall outlet to make sure it was not the heat mat's fault, and the UTH easily climbed to 125 degrees Fahrenheit (checked with a temperature gun).

The refund process was all right. Instead of being able to ship it back at an Amazon locker, I had to take it to a UPS shop with a free return label provided for me. I'm getting refunded from the vendor so no complaints there.

After returning it, I decided to opt for a replacement in the form of the Herpstat Intro+ (about four times more expensive than the Jump Start), and it has been working great at regulating the temperature on my heat mat. It is unfortunate that the Jump Start did not work, but perhaps it was just a defective unit.